Stunning as this is, it's true: I was wrong. Silly me. I figured there was no way the seven Catholic Big East schools threatening to leave the league could possibly decide survival on their own as basketball entities was viable. Those seven are obviously brave.

Reports Thursday said those seven schools — St. John's, DePaul, Villanova, Providence, Georgetown, Marquette and Seton Hall — have decided to strike out on their own, divorcing themselves from the decomposing corpse of the Big East. An announcement of the move is expected in the coming days.

There are many questions still to be answered and undoubtedly a gaggle of court proceedings to comb through before all this really happens. The seven could dissolve the league, take the Big East name and the league's assets with them. They could poach the Atlantic 10 to make a respectable basketball conference. Adding St. Louis, Xavier and Dayton, to name a few, would make a good hoops league. They could do any number of things.

If it happens, and it seems fait accompli, the Big East is officially dead. It is a real possibility that come Big East Tournament time, the only charter member without a new home will be UConn. And it can't even play in what might be the final Big East Tournament.

Yes, it has come to this.

UConn is suddenly in the worst possible situation imaginable short of completely shutting down the athletic program. It is a school whose athletic programs are built on basketball prowess, but has sunk so many resources into football that it can't totally give up on it. It has also rankled many of its Big East brethren by its obvious overtures to the ACC.

At long last in control of the voting power because of defections, the seven Catholic non-FBS schools made their power play. They control what happens to UConn. And Cincinnati. And South Florida. All of them are left in the cold, but the Huskies come out as the biggest loser simply because they have the biggest national brand of the three.

What's next? Hope and pray. Yes, it has come to this.

ESPN reported late Wednesday that UConn President Susan Herbst was pleading with the Defecting Seven to stay in the Big East. UConn sources refuted that Thursday. The sources said that Herbst and athletic director Warde Manuel are continuing their dialogues with counterparts in the ACC while also trying to align UConn with the Catholic schools.

On an appearance on WTIC-AM's "Sports Talk" on Thursday night, Manuel trucked out his usual "monitoring the situation" bit. He also reiterated that UConn's focus will continue to be on winning championships in whatever league the Huskies call home.

It sounded trite and screamed for truth in prior moments, but what else can he say at this point?

It is time to wait and see. And it is time for some extremely difficult decisions. Neither the ACC nor the B1G has any motivation to rescue UConn, Cincinnati or South Florida. An ACC invite likely comes only after more defection, which is still a possibility. In the meantime, UConn has to do something and that something is to align itself with the best basketball league possible.

"What other choice do we have?" a UConn source said.

Indeed. UConn is identified by basketball and it can ill afford to lose that identity. It runs that risk if it has to play in a league with Tulane, Houston, SMU, Central Florida and Memphis. Further complicating matters is that there is no guarantee the incoming Big East teams are going to stick to their commitments in light of this movement. According to reports, Houston has a clause in its agreement that allows it to back out without penalty. It is assumed the other incoming members, including those on the football-only side, have similar clauses.

The best scenario for UConn is joining a basketball league with the Catholic schools and hoping the impending football league of the Big East remains. Otherwise, UConn is in a heap of trouble. It can't forfeit its basketball history for a league with bad basketball, but it can't play football as an independent, either.

Notre Dame thrives as a football independent because of its long-standing tradition, lucrative agreement with NBC and ties to the BCS system. UConn has no football tradition, an agreement with a regional TV entity in SNY and no ties to the BCS once that Big East automatic qualifier status expires after the 2013 season.

There is one problem with aligning with the Catholic schools: They were not happy with how UConn and Cincinnati openly lobbied for membership in another conference. Never underestimate the grudge factor. Those seven might just decide to leave the Huskies stuck in the morass as much as they might need the Huskies for branding purposes.

Ultimately, and possibly for only the short term, UConn could be stuck. It could find itself in a league in which its closest basketball foe is Temple. It shares the same city as Villanova. Care to guess how many times UConn and Temple have played each other in men's basketball? Seven. Last time they met? 1965.

Football? It will become an even bigger afterthought.

Something went wrong somewhere. Where and who was the cause are not important now. Now there is only one conclusion in regards to UConn from someone who has been optimistic throughout: This is very, very bad.

In the quest for continued relevancy, UConn has an unbelievably difficult fight on its hands.

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